They say there are no easy games in football and that is certainly the way it is for Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool at the moment.

A lowly Division Two team should be a gimme but Liverpool were brought all the way to penalties by Carlisle last night, at Anfield, in the League Cup.

Rodgers' preparations already took a hammering early yesterday when Liverpool chiefs were forced to deny reports that the club had already contacted former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti about taking the reigns at Anfield, should Rodgers be sacked.

And Kop fans have organised a protest for this Saturday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Anfield. The Liverpool fans' account, which boasts over 120,000 Twitter followers, has called on fans to 'dress like Klopp' against Villa to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with Brendan Rodgers' reign.

The former Borussia Dortmund manager was rumoured to be a potential target for Liverpool when the clubs' board held crunch talks with Brendan Rodgers over his future, however those rumours were later denied by club officials.